Jared Kushner set to travel to Middle East to hone peace plan

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Jared Kushner reportedly will travel next week to Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to hone the Middle East peace plan that the team he leads is preparing.

Barak Ravid, a reporter for Axios as well as Israel’s Channel 10 news, reported Tuesday that Kushner, who is Jewish and the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, will tour the capitals with the team’s lead negotiator, Jason Greenblatt.

Kushner has kept a tight lid on the plan, but Greenblatt has been open in his criticisms of the Palestinian Authority for walking away from the pre-negotiations last December after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Ravid reported that Kushner and Greenblatt are open to meeting Palestinian leaders during the tour.

Kushner and Greenblatt also have laid the blame for violence on Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip solely on Hamas, the terrorist group that controls Gaza. Israeli troops have killed more than 100 Palestinians — Hamas has acknowledged that many of them are members — in two months of protests. Tens of thousands of Palestinians gather weekly at the fence and attempt to breach it, hoping to reach what they say are lands they own within Israel.

Kushner has formed a close bond with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Muhammad bin Salman, who is widely seen as that country’s effective ruler.